depictions; legends (folk tales); men (male humans)
Kiso Yoshinaka wrestles two tengu--forest- and mountain-dwelling demons. He grasps the one to his right by its long nose, and thrusts the other to the ground, having seized it by the throat. He carries a sword with an elaborately decorated hilt and...
Lord Sadanobu was a minister at the Heian court in the first half of the tenth century. The 13th-century book Okagami tells the story of how one evening, as he was hurrying to a meeting at the imperial palace, he felt something grab the end of his...
Lord Sadanobu was a minister at the Heian court in the first half of the tenth century. The 13th-century book Okagami tells the story of how one evening, as he was hurrying to a meeting at the imperial palace, he felt something grab the end of his...
depictions; men (male humans); warriors; horseback riding; war horses; armor (protective wear); battles
Taira-no-Masakado (903?-940) was a warlord who rebelled against the Kioto government of the Fujiwara Shoguns. In the 930s he seized eight provinces and founded a court at Sashima, calling himself Heishin No (Taira Prince). Masakado was defeated and...
A sketch of two actors, Sakata Kintoki and Tsuchigumo in a play from the story of Raiko and the Earth Spider. In this tale, Raiko, while on a quest in search of a giant flying skull, found himself feeling ill and retired for the night. A servant...
Back to back print. A man in a blue robe and a black samurai hat stands holding a fan; a younger man in a red kimono and holding a sword sits at his feet. Behind them is a screen painted with crane, and through an open doorway one can see a stone...
A character in "The Tale of the Heike" and kabuki plays, Mongaku experienced a religious awakening at the age of 19, took vows and entered the life of a wandering ascetic. As an austerity, Mongaku prayed beneath the Nachi waterfalls, standing under...
legends (folk tales); men (male humans); armor (protective wear); Buddhas
An armored samurai is wrestling a red demon and multitude of skeletons under the gaze of a grinning yellow Buddha. Toki Motosada has seized the demon by the wrist and is throwing it down. Moths flutter around them under a full moon.
Where...
legends (folk tales); men (male humans); swords; kimonos
While hunting Taira no Koremochi came upon a princess and her attendants in the woods. At their invitation he joined them, and after feasting and drinking fell asleep. In a dream he was warned that the princess was in fact Kijo, a demon, who...
legends (folk tales); men (male humans); women; bats (animals); dresses (garments); bell (idiophone); edged weapons; armor (protective wear)
In the top panel two bats, one carrying an umbrella and a scarf and the other two swords, parody Act V from the play Chushingura, the murder of Yoichibei by Sadakuro during a thunderstorm. In the lower half, the monk Anchin hides in a bell to...
legends (folk tales); men (male humans); women; children (people by age group); swords; kimonos; waterfalls (natural bodies of water); baskets
The 24 Paragons of Filial Piety are based on a compilation of Confucian tales of exemplary behavior by children to their elders. In this tale, Chi Shun went into the forest to gather mulberries for his widowed mother, throwing the ripe, black...
The poet and renown archer Minamoto no Yorimasa (1104-1180) was able to slay a mysterious beast / nue that plagued the imperial palace, and received in gratitude from Emperor Konoe a sword, presented by the Minister of the Left Fujiwara no Yorinaga...
men (male humans); battles; swords; warriors; armor (protective wear); crates
Representation of a warrior in battle. Standing behind the cover of a crate, he raises his sword overhead in a two-handed grip. A spear is thrust in to the crate before him. Left panel of a triptych.
Under a moonlit night sky, a samurai raises his sword overhead in a two-handed grip to cut down at a second warrior whose spear is caught in the crate before him. A young child is strapped to his back. Behind them a fallen samurai collapses in a...
men (male humans); battles; warriors; armor (protective wear); flames; balconies
he 1898 print set "Heike monogatari" published by Fukuda Hatsujiro was reissued in 1906 by Narasawa Kenjiro, evidently available with non-Heike or Genji warriors added, of which this is an example. This new collection has appeared under the title...
Hino Sukemoto was exiled to Sado Island and executed seven years later. His son Hino Kumawakamaru, returned to Sado and revenged his father's death, killing his father's enemy with the same sword used to execute his father. In this print the boy...
men (male humans); kimonos; edged weapons; clothing; interior spaces; hearth
In this imaginary duel the swordsman Musashi, who was noted for his use of bokutō (wooden swords) in duels, attacks the kensei (sword saint) Tsukahara Bokuden (1489-1571), founder of the mutekatsu-ryu school of fighting ("without hands" or...
men (male humans); soldiers; military uniforms; halberds; swords; chairs; fans (costume accessories); rifles (long guns); revolvers (firearms); maps; kimonos;
This imaginary group portrait has Saigo Takamori (1827-1877) seated at the top center panel dressed in a European style officer's uniform. He seems to direct his gaze toward Murata Shinpachi (1836-1877), his deputy in charge of the artillery,...
men (male humans); warriors; armor (protective wear); folklore; ghost stories
Ii no Hayata dispatches the Nue--a beast with the head of a monkey, body of a badger, legs of a tiger, scales of dragon and tail of snake which descended onto the roof of the imperial palace in the form of a black cloud--with his sword after it was...
